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Steven Wright, Master of the One-Liner, Tries His Hand at a Novel

The influential stand-up wanted to “pour everything I think about being alive” into the book, which is told from the point of view of a 7-year-old.

By Jason Zinoman

If there’s one living stand-up legend whose jokes are perfect for Twitter, it’s Steven Wright . Not only are they concise (“Lost a buttonhole”) but so meticulously absurd (“I like to reminisce with people I don’t know”) that rapid shifts of context don’t distort their meaning.

So it was a surprise that when he started an account in 2011, he didn’t use it to try out punch lines, but to write a novel — very slowly. It almost sounds like a Steven Wright joke. But more than a decade later, this larky experiment has turned into a book, “ Harold ,” about a meandering, bizarrely charming day in the life of a 7-year-old boy.

In an almost stream-of-consciousness style from the boy’s point of view, “Harold,” which takes place in the 1960s when Wright was a kid, pingpongs from musings on a third-grade teacher to a daydream about going to the moon. Plenty of its sentences would not be out of place in Wright’s standup: “All art is modern art at some point.”

Sitting in the Manhattan office of Simon & Schuster last month, Wright, who has been telling jokes in front of audiences for more than 40 years, explained in his signature gravelly drone that stand-up provided him a very “narrow window of creativity.” Not a criticism, he’s quick to add, just a description of the appeal of the new, more expansive form. “I wanted to put a funnel on Harold’s head and pour everything I think about being alive” into it, he said. “Lawyers, religion, space. Everything.”

Asked why he would focus on a boy, Wright shrugged. But he believes children notice things that adults miss. He sounds almost jealous when he describes the uncluttered mind of a young person. A kid, he said, is like “an alien who just got off a spaceship and is looking around.”

Wright can resemble an alien himself. He seems as laconic and lyrical as he is onstage, except warmer and quicker to laugh. Metaphors pour from him like a Bob Dylan song come to life. When asked to describe Wright, Marc Maron texted me: “Poet. Happens. Rarely. In. Comedy.”

There’s no more storied example of Johnny Carson making an overnight star than when his booker, visiting colleges for his son, stumbled upon an unknown Steven Wright performing in a Chinese restaurant in Boston. Wright killed on “The Tonight Show ” in 1982, when the studio audience alone was his biggest crowd yet. Three years later, Wright released “ I Have a Pony ,” a classic of modern stand-up.

If you came to it young, as many did and still do, it could rejigger your entire sense of humor. The comic Anthony Jeselnik told me Wright “influenced everything about my comedy.” Bobcat Goldthwait called him “human pot,” explaining, “Listen to him long enough and you feel stoned and see the world as absurd and amused as he does.”

Wright described his background as resolutely ordinary: middle-class, all-American, Norman Rockwell stuff. Sensitive, a little quiet, he didn’t tell his family that he had been doing comedy for years. Wright calls his break “a fluke.”

Don’t be fooled by this fairy-tale story. Wright not only had a gift for old-fashioned joke construction but also a rare discipline and taste that he remained stubbornly faithful to. Take one example: “I’ve always hated puns,” he told me with a rare flash of passion that he chuckled at. “It would be funnier if you dropped a dish.”

Early on, he set up rules for his comedy that might have hurt him in the short term but have allowed his work to age as well as any comedian’s. He avoided anything topical. He also did not curse. “I didn’t want to get a bigger laugh because of that,” he said. “I wanted it to be pure.”

Wright usually waves away any grand intent behind his work, saying his deadpan style is just how he talks. His old friends back this up. But maintaining a singular view of the world requires effort.

After living on both coasts, he moved back to New England to a rural spot one town over from Walden Pond. “You can see your life better,” he said of living near nature. At one point, he likened city life to being constantly pelted with candy. “You can’t think because you’re just trying to get through the Raisinets.”

Wright’s monotone one-liners remain a touchstone for a comedy subgenre, along with the other master of deadpan, Mitch Hedberg , who died in 2005.

“The biggest difference between Mitch and Steven is that when you saw an hour of Mitch, you got an idea of who he voted for, what he was about,” said Goldthwait, who, like Wright, emerged from the Boston comedy scene of the 1980s. “You watch Steven for an hour and have more questions about him than before you saw him.”

This is why “Harold” holds a particular fascination for comedy fans. What more can we learn about the elusive Wright?

There’s a romantic streak mostly absent from his comedy. The Apollo mission to the moon looms large in the story, and Wright’s father, an engineer, worked for a company that helped build parts for NASA. Seeing a camera wrapped in plastic that was heading for space at his dad’s workplace fired his imagination and was at one point a scene in the book. That was cut, but the thrill of space travel remains.

There is also more talk of love. Sometimes lustful, other times weary. “Being in love was like being on a seesaw where one side contained nitroglycerin,” he writes. “When you first get on no one knows which side has it.”

When Harold talks about a beautiful, intense New York girlfriend in his future, this sounds like something from the author’s life. Wright said that was true but kept it oblique in the book and was loath to discuss his personal life. He never married (“Romance is gambling,” he told me) and, asked why he didn’t have kids, he sounds like a bystander to his own life. “Didn’t think about it, then it didn’t happen,” he said. “It wasn’t decided. It just happened.”

The most revealing thing “Harold” captures about Steven Wright is the way he thinks about thinking. Described by the author as “a wondering machine,” the boy ponders whether it’s “possible to be in your 70s and have the perspective of a 5-year-old without being nuts?” Steven Wright is 67 and says he performs less these days.

The book’s central metaphor is a description of Harold’s thought process as a room with one window and a riot of birds flying around. Occasionally one flies out. That represents an idea. It’s a view of creativity that is random and unpredictable. Isn’t it a bit scary? What happens if the birds stop flying out?

Wright released relatively few specials in his career because, he said, “I can only think of so much stuff.” But he looked at ease with the idea that some things are out of our control. “You can try to think of ideas, but your mind is running on its own. Or at least my mind,” he said. “It’s mostly chaos, but you’re organizing a lot of it.”

Then he paused to smile and toss out one last metaphor: “You have to stay on the road when you drive.”

Jason Zinoman is a critic at large for The Times. As the paper’s first comedy critic, he has written the On Comedy column since 2011. More about Jason Zinoman

Inside the World of Comedy

Kevin Hart became the 25th comic  to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center.

The joke writers for awards shows like the Oscars are a corner of the showbiz work force that tends to remain in the shadows. The job requires skill, self-awareness and even diplomacy .

Comedians, no strangers to tackling difficult and taboo subjects with humor, are increasingly turning their attention to the climate crisis .

Delivering a deluge of hard jokes, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler tried stand-up for the first time as a double act, aiming directly for the nostalgic pleasure centers of their fans .

Dave Chappelle assumes we’re already offended in his new Netflix special , “The Dreamer,” which predictably includes trans and disabled jokes.

Was a scandal the best thing to happen to Hasan Minhaj ? It repositions him less as a righteous political comic than a more self-questioning, personal comic.

Steven Wright short tour 2022: How to buy tickets, schedule, dates

• Updated: Jun. 14, 2022, 8:47 p.m. |
• Published: Jun. 14, 2022, 4:58 p.m.

Comedian Steven Wright has just a dozen shows left on his 2022 tour schedule.

• Matt Levy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Just like his jokes , Steven Wright’s 2022 tour schedule is...short.

Wright, the master of the deadpan one-liner, has just 12 more stand up shows lined up this year .

From June through November , Wright is penciled in to play venues from Arizona all the way to Pennsylvania .

Although the comedian hasn’t released a new album since 2007′s “I Still Have A Pony,” his material is timeless and poetic jokes like, “Whenever I think about the past, it just brings back so many memories” still hold up.

So, if you want to hear Wright’s signature dry delivery live this year, here’s everything you need to know.

Where can I buy Steven Wright tickets?

Tickets to see the voice behind the droll funnyman in person are available on all verified ticketing sites.

NJ.com readers using Vivid Seats for the first time can get $20 off ticket orders over $200 with promo code NJ20 at checkout.

Popular alternatives include StubHub , TicketCity , SeatGeek , Ticketmaster and MegaSeats .

You can find a complete calendar featuring all upcoming Steven Wright tour dates, venues, show times and links to buy tickets here .

Other comedians on tour in 2022

Many of the funniest, most original voices in comedy are hitting the road this year.

Here are just five of our favorites you can catch live in the next few months.

• Chris Rock and Kevin Hart’s “Only Headliners Allowed Tour”
• Bill Burr’s “Slight Return Tour”
• John Mulaney’s “From Scratch Tour”
• Bert Kreischer’s “Berty Boy Relapse Tour”
• Amy Schumer’s “Whore Tour”

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Steven Wright, author of Harold

Porter Square Books: Boston Edition  is thrilled to welcome iconic stand-up comedian  Steven Wright  for his first book,  Harold ! This event will take place on  Sunday, May 7 at 7pm at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition  (50 Liberty Dr. Boston, MA 02210).

RSVP below to let us know you're coming and to receive event updates!

A uniquely humorous and deeply profound novel from a legendary stand-up comedian that follows the thoughts of a 1960s third grader during a single day at school.

Steven Wright is one of the most significant and influential stand-up comedians in history. Rolling Stone ranked him fifteenth on their “50 Best Stand-ups of All Time” list, while the New York Times has written of his enduring legacy: “If you made a family tree of modern stand-up, he would top one of the few major and expanding branches. The children of Mr. Wright pack the comedy scene today.” Now comes his first novel, which is sure to be unlike anything you’ve ever read.

From the outside, Harold is an average seven-year-old third grader growing up in the 1960s. Bored by school. Crushing on a girl. Likes movies and baseball—especially the hometown Boston Red Sox. Enjoys spending time with his grandfather. But inside Harold’s mind, things are a lot more complex and unusual. His thoughts come to him as birds flying through a small rectangle in the middle of his brain. He visits an outdoor cafe on the moon and is invited aboard a spaceship by famed astronomer Carl Sagan. He envisions his own funeral procession and wonders if the driver of the hearse has even been born yet.

Harold documents the meandering, surreal, often hilarious, and always thought-provoking stream-of-consciousness ruminations of the title character during a single day in class. Saturated with the witticisms and profundities for which Wright’s groundbreaking stand-up has long been venerated, this novel will change the way you perceive your daily existence. To quote one of its many memorable lines: “Everything doesn’t have to make sense. Just look at the world and your life.”

Steven Wright has performed stand-up comedy for more than four decades. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for his albums I Have a Pony and I Still Have a Pony, starred in three critically-acclaimed hour-long stand-up specials, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards. He also won the 1989 Academy Award for Live-Action Short for his film, The Appointment of Dennis Jennings, and he wrote and directed the short film, One Soldier. His many film and TV appearances include Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, The Larry Sanders Show, Mad About You, Horace and Pete, Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, Coffee and Cigarettes, Half Baked and Desperately Seeking Susan. He lives in New England.

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Harold (Hardcover)

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First novel from steven wright.

Oscar winning and Grammy and Emmy nominated comedian, Steven Wright’s first book, the novel,  Harold , is available now for presale and will be released on May 16 from Simon & Schuster.  An  audiobook narrated by Steven  is also available. 

Harold  is a uniquely humorous and deeply profound novel from a legendary stand-up comedian that follows the thoughts of a 1960s third grader during a single day at school.

From the outside, Harold is an average seven-year-old third grader growing up in the 1960s. Bored by school. Crushing on a girl. Likes movies and baseball—especially the hometown Boston Red Sox. Enjoys spending time with his grandfather. But inside Harold’s mind, things are a lot more complex and unusual. His thoughts come to him as birds flying through a small rectangle in the middle of his brain. He visits an outdoor cafe on the moon and is invited aboard a spaceship by famed astronomer Carl Sagan. He envisions his own funeral procession and wonders if the driver of the hearse has even been born yet.

Harold  documents the meandering, surreal, often hilarious, and always thought-provoking stream-of-consciousness ruminations of the title character during a single day in class. Saturated with the witticisms and profundities for which Wright’s groundbreaking stand-up has long been venerated, this novel will change the way you perceive your daily existence. To quote one of its many memorable lines: “Everything doesn’t have to make sense. Just look at the world and your life.”

Steven Wright has performed stand-up comedy for more than four decades. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for his albums  I Have a Pony  and  I Still Have a Pony , starred in three critically-acclaimed hour-long stand-up specials and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.  He also won the 1989 Academy Award for Live-Action Short for his film,  The Appointment of Dennis Jennings , and he wrote and directed the short film,  One Soldier .  His many film and TV appearances include  Saturday Night Live ,  The Tonight Show ,  Late Show with David Letterman ,  The Larry Sanders Show ,  Mad About You ,  Horace and Pete ,  Reservoir Dogs ,  Natural Born Killers ,  Coffee and Cigarettes ,  Half Baked  and  Desperately Seeking Susan . He lives in New England.

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Comedian Steven Wright’s first novel sounds like ... Steven Wright

The standup comic’s fiction debut, ‘harold,’ tracks a day in the life of a boy with many of the same qualities as its author.

The 1980s comedy scene might be best remembered for flashy provocateurs like Eddie Murphy and Andrew Dice Clay. But it was also a good time to be a little more down to earth and a lot more offbeat. “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” deconstructed the sitcom. The absurdist zine Army Man was a proving ground for writers who would work on “The Simpsons” during its glory years. Bill Hicks was as sharp about politics as he was his acid trips. And then there was Steven Wright, an overthinking weirdo who looked and acted like he’d rolled out of bed five minutes before hitting the stage and populated his sets with non sequiturs and drowsily delivered one-liners: “I spilled spot remover on my dog, he’s gone now.”

Wright’s debut novel, “ Harold ,” is largely an effort to transpose his stand-up sensibility to fiction. Plotwise, very little happens. Its title hero is a 7-year-old boy attending his third-grade class in suburban Massachusetts. It’s 1965, and Harold’s teacher is reminding him to remember his upcoming assignments. But he’s the kind of kid who isn’t going to get boxed in by assignments, or reminding, or remembering. He’s smart but psychically entirely off the grid. “He did more thinking than someone his age,” Wright explains. “Or any age.”

Though Wright, now 67, doesn’t dwell on diagnoses, Harold’s busy brain is almost certainly a case of ADHD. And the background details that flicker into the story suggest he’s processing a trauma or two: His mother has been briefly institutionalized, so he’s recently spent a summer living with his crusty grandfather. If there’s a father around, Harold is stubbornly determined to think about anything but.

David Duchovny wants to be taken seriously as a novelist. His new book makes a good case.

Instead, his cranium becomes a vaudeville revue of curious musings, which he imagines as birds fluttering in a “rectangle in his head.” Many of those thoughts are tart and aphoristic in a very Wright-ian way. For instance:

“Wouldn’t it be great if he had a pair of glass bottom shoes that he could wear on the glass bottom boat with no socks on so that if the fish looked up they could for the first time in their lives see bare feet that weren’t in the water.”

Or: “Harold wondered if bird angels would have four wings.”

Or: “How different it would be if, when boats pulled huge nets out of the ocean full of thousands of fish, the fish were screaming in horror.”

Or: “Being in love was like being on a seesaw where one side contained nitroglycerin.”

And so on. The subjects of Wright’s riffing are all over the place, accommodating black-and-white vs. color film, internal bleeding, Lakota folklore, space exploration. The daydreamscapes are far-flung too: Harold imagines himself visiting a cemetery with a classmate, then kicking back at a coffee shop on the moon, where he discusses the state of the universe with astronomer Carl Sagan. The oddness of the settings hardly matters, though; just about every element of “Harold” is subordinate to its job as a delivery system for Wright’s observations. (Unsurprisingly, he initially conceived the book as a novel-in-tweets.)

“Harold” is often funny, and its refusal to stay in one place means it never feels labored. But: Is it a novel? Though there are characters, there’s little in the way of character development. Harold returns to the matter of his institutionalized mother only intermittently, and as little more than an object of fear or fury. (Understandably: She once accidentally put wine in his thermos.) His grandfather brings storm clouds of dark observations and antics that would require a truckload of psychiatrists to untangle. He tells Harold that all the chairs around the dining room table have been occupied by people who have hanged themselves. (“Kiddingly,” Wright notes. Ha … ha?) Later, he takes Harold to a wedding and fits him in a marionette suit, clipping his strings. That might qualify as symbolism — maybe — if there were a clear story the symbols referred to.

And that’s setting aside odd turns, factual infelicities and jokes that don’t land. Why is Harold chatting up Carl Sagan in 1965, years before he became a pop-science household name? Why is the story contemplating the schoolteacher’s sex life? Why are we on the moon, again? To which Wright can only respond: Who cares and so what? Riffing on a photo taken by a space probe in 1990, he notes: “If you’re wondering how Harold would know of this photograph … mind your own business.”

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Except that’s impossible, what with Harold nattering on about childhood anxiety and lunar living as if Donald Barthelme had been assigned to rewrite “ The Little Prince .” Harold is at once compelling and frustrating because he’s so unshaped: His mind is a stew of schoolbook facts, alertness to adult hypocrisy, family dysfunction and miscellaneous psychic damage. Which is to say, a solid formula for a stand-up comic. (Wright’s reading of the “Harold” audiobook is much like his stand-up — deliberate, deadpan and leavened just a bit by his thick Boston accent.)

But a manic kid whose brain refuses to stay in one place isn’t quite the same thing as a story about a manic kid. To be charitable, Wright has invented something here: A story about a child that refuses to be childlike, authored by an author who refuses to pretend that there’s order to the disorganized mind of a too-smart kid who can’t keep on task. “In life lots of times there is no logic,” Wright writes. “Lots and lots of times. Lots of times.” For better and for worse, lots and lots of those times are between the covers of this book.

Mark Athitakis is a critic in Phoenix and the author of “ The New Midwest .”

By Steven Wright

Simon & Schuster. 256 pp. $26

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CBS Entertainment

“I’m Like A Receptionist For My Mind” - Steven Wright, After A Few Cups Of Coffee

Posted: January 19, 2024 | Last updated: April 3, 2024

Legendary comedian Steven Wright makes his first appearance on The Late Show, much to the delight of superfan Stephen Colbert. Watch as they talk about everything from Johnny Carson to Jesus, and how coffee helps ignite Steven’s joke-writing process. Steven Wright’s first book, “Harold,” is available now. #Colbert #StevenWright #Harold #Books #Coffee

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Harold Hardcover – May 16, 2023

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• Print length 256 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Simon & Schuster
• Publication date May 16, 2023
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.38 inches
• ISBN-10 1668022699
• ISBN-13 978-1668022696
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (May 16, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1668022699
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1668022696
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.38 inches
• #18 in Absurdist Fiction (Books)
• #481 in Humorous Fiction
• #3,243 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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About The Book

About the author.

Steven Wright has performed stand-up comedy for more than four decades. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for his albums I Have a Pony  and  I Still Have a Pony , starred in three critically acclaimed hour-long stand-up specials, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards. He also won the 1989 Academy Award for Live-Action Short for his film, The Appointment of Dennis Jennings , and he wrote and directed the short film, One Soldier . His many film and TV appearances include  Saturday Night Live ,  The Tonight Show ,  Late Show with David Letterman ,  The Larry Sanders Show , Mad About You , Horace and Pete , Reservoir Dogs ,  Natural Born Killers ,  Coffee and Cigarettes , Half Baked  and  Desperately Seeking Susan . He lives in New England.

Product Details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 16, 2023)
• Length: 256 pages
• ISBN13: 9781668022696

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“Like Catcher In the Rye on mushrooms. Read this goddamn book. It’s a masterpiece. Steven Wright is a genius.” —Bill Burr "Really funny and touching. Harold is beautifully written. Only Steven Wright could write this, and I love it." —Conan O'Brien “A strange and wonderful book…There are shades of Vonnegut in Wright, and shades of John Irving's Owen Meany in the precocious Harold.” —Michael Ian Black, The New York Times Book Review “If Kurt Vonnegut and Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson wrote a literary version of Harold and the Purple Crayon , they might have concocted an absurdist novel like Harold . Or maybe, Harold could only have come from the off-kilter but fertile musings of stand-up legend Steven Wright...His deadpan delivery elevated him to the top of the stand-up world in the 1980s. That same originality and dry humor ricochets throughout his novel.” —Stuart Miller , The Los Angeles Times " Harold is often funny…as if Donald Barthelme had been assigned to rewrite The Little Prince . Wright has invented something here: A story about a child that refuses to be childlike, authored by an author who refuses to pretend that there’s order to the disorganized mind of a too-smart kid who can’t keep on task.” — Mark Athitakis, The Washington Post “Readers enthralled by stand-up comedian Wright’s uniquely brainy, topsy-turvy, metaphysical, and epigrammatic humor will revel in Harold’s uncanny, sharply funny, and profound ponderings in this sardonic yet tender tale of life’s mysteries and the mind’s marvels.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist

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Why deadpan genius comic Steven Wright wrote a novel with no rules

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On the Shelf

By Steven Wright Simon & Schuster: 256 pages, $26 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

If Kurt Vonnegut and “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson wrote a literary version of “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” they might have concocted an absurdist novel like “ Harold .”

Or maybe, “Harold” could only have come from the off-kilter but fertile musings of stand-up legend Steven Wright .

Wright, for what it’s worth, has never heard of “Calvin and Hobbes” or seen the children’s books featuring that other Harold, but he calls Vonnegut “one of my heroes.”

He is equally admiring of coffee, which is thanked in the acknowledgments, telling me during our video interview, “I have a pretty good imagination but when I drink coffee I have a two-hour window that’s just …” before shaking his head in wonder. He lifts his mug into camera range. “Right now I’m high on coffee.”

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Wright’s comedic style onstage is, famously, the opposite of caffeinated; his deadpan delivery elevated him to the top of the stand-up world in the 1980s with one-liners like these:

I spilled spot remover on my dog. Now he’s gone. You can’t have everything. Where would you put it? I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn’t park anywhere near the place. Everywhere is walking distance if you’ve got the time. It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to have to paint it.

That same originality and dry humor ricochets throughout his novel. Wright’s Harold is a third-grader stuck in class while his imagination soars and dives through a series of adventures and memories. We experience “the circus in his head,” as each new thought comes to him in the form of a small bird that flies through a rectangular window in the middle of his brain.

“I thought of that before I was even writing the book,” Wright recalls. “My mind is skipping around, going from one subject.”

Harold’s ideas are equally distinctive. Some definitely sound like Steven Wright jokes, as when Harold muses about why a needle would be in a haystack or asks his beleaguered teacher, “Do you happen to know the history of trick questions?” But the book also has other characters — childhood crush, a supportive grandfather — as well as a (warped) narrative of sorts, including a long dream sequence on the moon and a space visit with Carl Sagan .

Like Calvin, Harold has a vocabulary and an introspective streak unlike any 7-year-old’s; he ponders his existence, deciding in a Vonnegut-esque way that “the problem was he was smart enough to ask the question but not smart enough to answer it. Then he thought maybe that goes for the entire human race.”

In our interview, which has been edited for clarity and length, Wright exhibited that same kind of openness and curiosity, frequently turning questions around on me and happily veering off topic. He was also generous: When I attempted a Steven Wright joke — “I’m writing a new song about concentration struggles in the age of social media. The chords are just A, D, D” — he said, “I like that. You don’t see that coming and that’s the whole thing.”

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You wrote for yourself, with no plans to publish. Was that freeing?

I was just writing what was interesting to me. I was staying in my own world. I wasn’t looking at it from the outside wondering, “What would a publisher think of this?” I never judged it by how it would be seen. I think that would bend how it was written and it would take the fun of it away. It was very innocent, like a kid coloring.

There are quirky one-liners that fulfill a reader’s expectations of a Wright book, but they’re scattered. Were you careful about that?

I started writing thinking there’d be no jokes, but they just leaked out. I purposely spread it out, but if they came to me when I was writing I’d just put them in there. The reason I even started writing the book is that stand-up is like working through a very narrow window of creativity.

A rectangular window?

That’s funny. I didn’t even connect it. Maybe I’m obsessed with windows and don’t know it.

[He turns from the camera and looks behind him, gazing upon two amply-windowed walls in a silent deadpan.]

But with stand-up, the joke — a couple of sentences to get the audience laughing out loud — is a very specific type of creativity. I’m not complaining at all, but I had stuff in my head that was not in that window, so I started writing it.

Are Harold’s musings inspired by what you thought about as a kid?

No, it’s like I’m putting a funnel into the top of Harold’s head and I’m pouring into his head a lot of what I think about the experience of life.

But a kid is constantly wondering; he’s a wondering machine. And all art comes from noticing what’s around you. I notice things like a child does, except I get to use the words of an adult.

Harold’s grandfather offers him great and unusual insights. Were you shaped by someone like that when you were a boy?

Not really. But a grandparent to me is like a philosopher because of how long he has lived. I have stuff in my stand-up about a grandfather talking to a little kid; it just fascinates me. Their perspective has a common denominator, it’s like a circle with two doors and one going in and one going out. The grandfather is past all the BS and the kid hasn’t gotten to it yet.

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At one point you randomly mention someone named Peter who, “many many years later,” will tell Harold “the purpose of life is to enjoy your life.” Who is Peter?

It’s a real line from a real guy. He’s an old friend of mine and he’s way older than me. He’s a very important person in my life. He said that to me about 25 years ago. And I said, “Wow.” It boiled everything down nicely. I never knew that was the purpose of life. But you’re asking me that question like you already knew that.

Well, I think from my grandparents I got both the lesson to enjoy life but also to give back and do good for others.

That’s fantastic.

Were you worried about the dream sequence on the moon being so long?

I didn’t see it as a risk because I was just having fun. One day I was describing him on the moon and it just kept going and going. I did wonder if you can have a dream go so long and I thought, “I don’t care.” It’s like a kid doing fingerpaints. He’s not saying, “Oh no, there’s too much green now.”

Harold feels unstuck in time. Parts seem to occur in the early or mid - ‘60s, yet there’s a reference to “ Helter Skelter ” and Neil Armstrong and even Secretariat .

I was rounding off. I can’t be pinned down by time. There’s also the part where he’s talking about the photograph taken from the Voyager, which was in 1993, and I wrote, “In case you’re wondering how he knew about that, mind your own business.”

That’s so silly. And then I thought, “So what.” I just thought, “So what,” about almost everything.

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Steven Wright: Live in Concert – SOLD OUT!

• Date: November 10, 2022 Thu
• Time: 7:00 pm
• Location: Hough Hall
• Tickets: $40-$65

At this time, the Steven Wright event is taking place as scheduled. If circumstances change, we will update via our social media channels with any new information. For additional questions about the status of the Steven Wright show, please contact Ruth Eckerd Hall’s ticket office at 727-791-7400.

This show is SOLD OUT.

Comedian Steven Wright makes his debut at the Palladium Theatre in St. Petersburg! Academy Award® winner Steven Wright is a prototype comedian that many others continually try to follow. Steven’s celebrated career includes comedy albums, film and television appearances. Steven has been seen in numerous films including, Desperately Seeking Susan, Mike Meyers’ So I Married An Axe Murderer, Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, and Nora Ephron’s Mixed Nuts. Steven is a regular guest with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers and continues touring the U.S., Canada, and overseas.

Steven was honored as the first inductee into The Boston Comedy Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2013 Steven received The Johnny Carson Comedy Legend Award.

Presented by Ruth Eckerd Hall on the Road.

TICKETS Reserved Tier A: $65. Reserved Tier B: $55. Reserved Tier C: $40.

Tickets available only through Ruth Eckerd Hall: (727) 791-7400 or https://www.rutheckerdhall.com/event/steven-wright-live-concert

About The Palladium

Whether in the main concert hall, Hough Hall with its unsurpassed new sound system, or kicking back in the intimate Side Door Cabaret, the historic Palladium Theater is consistently ranked as one of Tampa Bay’s best, most affordable venues for classical, jazz, blues, theatre, opera, Celtic, comedy, dance, educational, literary, community events, and more. The Palladium, located in downtown St. Petersburg’s cultural center, is part of what makes Tampa Bay great.

Upcoming Events

St. Petersburg College Community Connections Concert: CoreyStrong

Hough Concert Hall

Gulf Coast Dance Theater: Reflections – A Spectacular Gala of Dance

Artists In Residence

Steven Wright

About this episode.

Comedian and author Steven Wright feels anxious about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.

Steven sits down with Conan to talk about honing his trademark deadpan humor, debuting on Johnny Carson, and pouring everything he thinks about being alive into his new novel Harold. Plus, Conan tries to make Matt Gourley jealous with an in-person visit to an iconic James Bond filming location.

For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit  TeamCoco.com .

More Episodes

Ding dong v. ring ding.

Conan talks to Margaret from Calgary about intuitive composition, music in nature for early childhood, and Conan’s very own personalized musical motif.

Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply

Comedian Jimmy Carr feels contractually obliged about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.

Jimmy sits down with Conan to discuss why now is a better time than ever to be in stand-up, developing his signature comedic style, workshopping new material on the road, and what Dunbar’s number tells us about the origins of comedy. 

Jimmy Carr returns to Netflix with his latest stand-up special Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer out now.

Jimmy’s brand-new international tour Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny is on sale now. For tickets and info visit jimmycarr.com

Website: https://www.jimmycarr.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jimmycarr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmycarr

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jimmycarr

For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com.

Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Fan Compilation

Conan presents a special compilation of the first time he met his international fans on the podcast who ended up being a big part of his new travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go. Check out Conan O’Brien Must Go available now on Max.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Writers Roundtable

Conan sits down with writers Mike Sweeney, Matt O’Brien, and Jessie Gaskell and producer Jason Chillemi for a roundtable discussion about the making of his newest travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go, featuring insights into the destination selection process, a sneak preview of a Bono-centric segment, and the tease of a special surprise narrator.

Goldie Hawn

Actress Goldie Hawn feels really excited about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.

Goldie sits down with Conan to discuss meeting husband Kurt Russell through his mother, hard-scrabbling early days in New York as a dancer, breaking the mold by producing Private Benjamin and more, and prioritizing mental health in young people with the MindUP program.

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W. Kamau Bell Returns

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Kamau returns to chat with Conan once more about the weapons they’re allowed to keep in the house, the best video essays on YouTube, working as a correspondent on What Would You Do?, and gaining notoriety with Denzel Washington. Plus, Conan plays whack-a-mole with his team’s various incapacitations.

Rum and Cokes in the Bathroom

Conan speaks with Brie in Utah about mothering six sons, her post-Mormon experiences with coffee and alcohol, and owning her own bridal shop. Plus, Conan designs his very own bridal gown.

Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: TeamCoco.com/CallConan

Carol Burnett

Comedy legend Carol Burnett feels so much love for Conan O’Brien.

Carol sits down with Conan to discuss her introduction to the comedic arts, memorable tales from The Carol Burnett Show, meeting and learning from Lucille Ball, and making new friends on the set of Palm Royale. Later, Conan himself recalls the rip-roaring days of his early career.

My Ghoulish Figure

Conan talks to Brandon from Georgetown, Ontario about investigating paranormal occurrences, the scariest destinations, and Conan’s unique haunting style.

Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts and started his path in comedy when he served twice as the president of The Harvard Lampoon. Conan went on to become a writer and producer on several television shows, including "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," until 1993, when NBC tapped him to take over as host of "Late Night." Since then, he's won four Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild Awards, and the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Television Host." Conan has hosted two Emmy Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, and performed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for two presidents. In 2010, his live comedy tour was the subject of the documentary “Conan O'Brien Can’t Stop,” and led to a second multi-city stand-up tour in 2018. In 2015, Conan became the longest-working current late-night talk show host in the U. S., celebrating 25 years in 2018. His show, “CONAN,” recently ended after 10 years on TBS. His Emmy Award-winning “Conan Without Borders” series has visited 13 countries and his podcast “Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend” currently has over 230 million downloads since it launched in 2018. Between his production company, Conaco, and leading his Emmy-winning digital brand, Team Coco, he’s successfully expanded into branded content, podcasting, mobile gaming, pay TV, and live comedy tours.

Sona Movsesian

Sona Movsesian started her career in TV as an NBC Page and went on to become the Events & Operations Coordinator for the publicity department. She started working for Conan O'Brien as his executive assistant in 2009 when he moved to Los Angeles to take over hosting duties for "The Tonight Show.” In 2018, she joined Conan on his podcast "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" and met her new friend Matt Gourley. She was born in Los Angeles and continues to live there with her husband Tak, their puppy Oki, and twins Mikey and Charlie.

Matt Gourley

First of all, Matt Gourley does some podcasts. For starters, he's the creator of the "I Was There Too" podcast and the co-creator of the "Superego," "James Bonding," "Pistol Shrimps Radio," "The Complete Man," and "In Voorhees/Myers We Trust" podcasts as well as sidekick to Andy Daly on "The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project" and producer of "Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend.” There are more, but let’s stop talking about podcasts. He’s also been seen acting on "Community," "Kidding," "Comedy Bang! Bang!," "Blindspot," ''Another Period," "Adventure Time," and has been featured on Comedy Central’s "Drunk History," slurring his way through thoughtful retellings of Watergate, the Alamo, and the life of Wernher von Braun. He was also the long-time spokesperson for Volkswagen, but let’s not talk about that either. In his down time though, Matt plays music with his band Townland and works on design and renovation projects at home where he lives with his wife Amanda Lund and their huge cat, Margaux The Fat Guy.

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Steven Wright

Steven wright tour dates.

As of right now there haven't been any big Steven Wright concerts or tours planned for cities in North America. Sign up for our Concert Tracker to get told when Steven Wright concerts have been added to the lineup. Get the latest tour announcements for Steven Wright events by visiting our Tour announcements page . In the meantime, take a look at other Comedy performances coming up by Lewis Black , Dustin Sims , and Joe Wong .

Steven Wright Concert Schedule

No events =(, about steven wright tour albums.

Steven Wright released the hugely beloved album 'Reservoir Dogs' which includes some of the most beloved songs from the Steven Wright catalog. 'Reservoir Dogs' has been the most recognized album for fans to see during the gigs. Some of Steven Wright's most beloved tour albums and songs are provided below. After publishing 'Reservoir Dogs' and making a serious effect in the business, music lovers consistently gather to see Steven Wright on stage to play favorites from the entire collection.

Steven Wright Tour Albums and Songs

Steven Wright: I Still Have A Pony

• This Woman I Met
• The Kitten Song
• Planetarium
• My Grandfather
• Shopping Carts
• The Mumbles Song

Steven Wright: Reservoir Dogs

Steven Wright: I Have a Pony

• Introduction
• Hitchhiking
• 7's and Museums
• Jiggs Casey
• Cross Country

Steven Wright: Reservoir Dogs (Soundtrack)

Steven Wright: Reservoir Dogs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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Steven Wright might soon come to a city near you. View the Steven Wright schedule above and click the ticket link to see our big selection of tickets. Look through our selection of Steven Wright front row tickets, luxury boxes and VIP tickets. After you locate the Steven Wright tickets you desire, you can buy your seats from our safe and secure checkout. Orders taken before 5pm are usually shipped within the same business day. To buy last minute Steven Wright tickets, look for the eTickets that can be downloaded instantly.

Steven Wright Top Tour Album

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Stephen Wright Books In Order

Publication order of standalone novels, publication order of anthologies.

Stephen Wright is a published novelist.

Stephen was born on August 17, 1946 in Warren, Pennsylvania. He ended up being drafted to serve in the army. He participated in the Vietnam War and was part of those serving at the Phu Bai Combat Base. He made it through the war and when he got back decided to pursue education. He attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and got his Master of the Fine Arts.

Since then he has moved on from the student to the teacher. Stephen has taught literature and writing at institutions such as Brown University, Princeton University, and The New School. He has also received recognition for his work. He has been the recipient of the Whiting Award in fiction as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also received a Lannan Literary Fellowship.

The author is well known for using dark comedy and surrealistic imagery in his books. He debuted his writing to the world first with the official publication of his novel Meditations in Green in 1978. The book was an account of war with hallucinatory accounts included. Since then he has written more novels, including M31: A Family Romance, which is a drama revolving around family and UFO believers in a cult like set up in the 1988 novel. Then there was the publication of his fourth novel, Going Native, in 1994. The plot is about a serial killer and was ranked at the thirteenth spot for a list of the 20th century’s best English language fiction books by Larry McCaffery. In 2006 his next book was published, The Amalgamation Polka, set during the middle of the Civil War. His fifth novel came out in 2020 and is titled Processed Cheese. The comedic novel is the story of a couple that suddenly comes into some money without warning.

Stephen Wright lives in New York City.

Meditations in Green is the first novel to come out from talented author Stephen Wright. This is the award winning story that many see as being one of the best novels out there written regarding the Vietnam War. At times surreal, searing, and sardonic as well as seductive, the book reads like a collage with kaleidoscopic intensity, going through different characters and images and introducing them to the reader.

There is the character of Winky, who is seen as many as being as perverted. He decided to go and fight in the army just so that he could stay off welfare. Then there’s Payne, known for being eccentric. He’s making a film about the war and is largely obsessed with it and its production. Then there is Claypool, who does not yet know that he is headed for a terrible fate (and it’s probably best that he doesn’t know). These are just some of the characters that are featured in this story.

Then there’s Spec. 4 James Griffin, in many ways the central figure of this spin cycle. He’s busy working hard in this foreign country, studying the carpet bomb photos as he does everything that he can to try and stay in touch with reality. After he comes back from his tour, he is in the states and battling a nasty addiction.

There Griffin studies household plants and how green they are, all while engaged in a massive struggle, attempting to try and regain his sanity. Full of monologues and action, this is a book written by someone who was there that acknowledges the bleak darkness that can be war and how it can be channeled through artwork and the written word. Pick up a copy of this book yourself to absorb this unique story first hand!

M31: A Family Romance is the second fictional novel to come out from author Stephen Wright. This is a science fiction novel that is going to be a fun read if you are a fan of the genre and even if you are not! Check it out and see what you think.

Main characters Dash and Dot have a few things that make them the same as others and then very different. They are married and are husband and wife. They also happen to have ancestors that are aliens that hailed from the M31 galaxy.

Now they are lecturers and are very much in demand. In fact, they are the most popular lecturers in the world when it comes to talking about UFOs and that world. The couple lives in middle America in a church that’s been decommissioned. The steeple has a radar church and hidden in the sanctuary safely is their spaceship.

They also have kids, who get to run the house themselves whenever their parents are away. One day some UFO enthusiasts end up showing up on their door without warning seeking to get in touch with Dot and Dash. But what they find is a regular family whose world looks a lot like that of any other human’s.

Experience all of the zany fun of this novel for yourself by picking up a copy of M31 and reading to the end!

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